Novakowski gears up for challenge of Laudonia for tax collector

Neil Vigdor

Updated 10:43 pm, Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Democrat Rick Novakowski renewed his rivalry with fellow Cos Cobber and current Tax Collector Tod Laudonia Tuesday, announcing his plans to challenge the Republican incumbent in the November municipal election.

This will be Novakowski's second shot at Laudonia, to whom he finished a distant third in a three-way race in 2009 after the retirement of Democrat Lou Caravella.

Novakowski said he hopes to restore the respect of the office earned by Caravella and, before that, the late Republican Jim Branca.

"I would refer to Tod as the antithesis of the definition of a public servant," Novakowski told Greenwich Time. "They brought dignity to the office. They did their job. They were respected."

Laudonia was not available for immediate comment Tuesday. His office said he had a death in the family.

Republicans defended Laudonia's record during his first two terms in office, saying the town's tax-collection rate for the 2011-12 fiscal year was 99.34 percent.

"I think he's done an outstanding job," said Jim Campbell, chairman of the Republican Town Committee. "The performance is in the numbers, and the town's collection rate is at an all-time high."

The tax collector, charged with collecting taxes in the town with the largest grand list in the state -- at $30.9 billion -- commands an annual salary of nearly $92,350 and a staff of five full-time employees.

Novakowski, 49, has worked as a manager at Manero's in Greenwich, a carnivorous institution for 62 years before it closed in 2006, as well as Bennett's Steak and Fish restaurant in Stamford. He was also a department manager at Richards clothing store on Greenwich Avenue.

A third-generation town resident who is married with four children, Novakowski is expected to try to make the race a referendum on Laudonia, whom he said has made several missteps.

Novakowski cited a monthlong delay in the mailing of property tax bills during the summer of 2010, Laudonia's first year in office, as well as the tax collector's office being unable to account for several checks it received that same year.

"What Tod has created as tax collector is a lot of negatively publicity for the tax collector's office," Novakowski said.

Laudonia's backers have said that the situation was blown out of proportion, with 22 out of 60,000 payments unaccounted for, not lost. They attributed the billing delay to a software glitch, for which the town received a letter of apology from its vendor.

In 2011, Laudonia outlasted Democrat Bill Grad in a rematch of their 2009 tilt, with Novakowski supporting Grad from the sidelines.

Laudonia is a third-generation town resident and former Representative Town Meeting member who is president of the St. Lawrence Society, an Italian-American club in Cos Cob founded by his grandfather.

Novakowski said Laudonia hasn't learned from the growing pains of his first term and cited a recent request by the tax collector for a $2,500 clothing allowance for his staff that was rejected by the Board of Estimate and Taxation.

"I just think it's really not growing pains, but a general disposition on Tod's part that things like this are going to continue to happen now and again," Novakowski said.

Novakowski denied that he is trying to settle a personal score with Laudonia.

"There's no personal animosity," he said. "There's nothing personally that would make me want to run."

Novakowski defected from the GOP to the Democratic Party in 2008 so he could vote in the Super Tuesday primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. In 2009, he lost the Democratic primary to Grad and ran in the general election as an independent.

Democrats have previously raised concerns about letters written by Novakowski to Greenwich Time that they said espoused right-of-center views on issues such as same-sex marriage and school prayer while embracing conservative figures such as President George W. Bush and Pat Buchanan.

"I was unaware that Mr. Novakowski had registered with yet another political party," Campbell said. "He seems to move his party registration around from election year to election year."